Tag Archives: Delicious

Guest: Lauren Dane Talks about Spinoffs

I don’t know if you know but… I’m not a huge fan of series. :X I know, I know. But wait. The reason why I mention that is… despite my feelings about them, Lauren Dane totally has me sold on hers. I’ve loved her Seattle set books. And I also love that she knows when to end things. But… even bigger confession? >.> I don’t know if I want to see the Seattle friends go! Eek! Anyway, you don’t want to hear me babble. Without further ado… Ms. Lauren Dane!

Spinning Off by Lauren Dane

So I love to write series. I love developing a group of characters whose stories and paths grow together over one large story arc with several smaller ones for each book.

When I first started thinking about Laid Bare, it was really Erin’s story. I knew she had two brothers, but when I sold it, it was just for a single book because an opening came up in the schedule and they asked if I had anything for them.  I did.

But as I started writing Laid Bare and I got to know Erin’s brothers, I knew I wanted to write about them too. This family, this group of friends, became very real to me as I wrote their stories.

But I’m also a believer in ending things while people still like what you’re writing. I didn’t want to make up uncles or far flung relations just to keep going. But then I wrote Gillian and realized how much I loved her friends.

So I did plan to end the Brown Siblings books (the last book, Drawn Together, Raven’s book, is out next October), but realized I could make that world a little bigger so it overlapped into Delicious, my next series with Berkley Heat that centered around Gillian’s group of friends on Bainbridge Island.

It’s been wonderful to write about these women and their lives – how they all are connected with one another and as they meet and fall in love with the men who fill that spot in their hearts. And it’s been wonderful to touch base with the Browns, Keenans and Copelands because Gillian and Adrian’s wedding is at the heart of the first two books (Sway and Tart, and it’s where Mary meets Damien, her HEA in the last book, Lush).

A spin off needs its own heart and because I loved these characters so much I think I gave it to Delicious. These women are artists, much like Erin and her brothers. But in their own way. They have their own flavor. Bainbridge is a slower, more small town version of Seattle as well.

So I hope you all enjoy meeting and getting to know Daisy, Mary, Jules, Cal, Gideon, Damien and Levi as much as I did!

Lauren is also giving away a copy of her new book Tart, which is something you definitely want to read! Either print, or digital. Winner’s choice!

Feeding “Shannon Stacey” – The General Edition

So… not sure if Shannon Stacey will actually eat either of these things. Even though she should. She said she likes cream of chicken soup – and it’s similar, in a way. This recipe is much healthier though. What am I talking about? Cauliflower soup. I know, some of you are recoiling right now. Me? I like cauliflower. I like it roasted, or with curry, or steamed and with fresh crab meat. Yum.

I’m actually not huge on thick soups, but this was so good and luxurious. I wanted to bathe in it. No joke. I had a large bowl. Then some more. Then I >.> might have “tested” some more. Straight from the pot.

So anyway this is my like 30 second bowl. You can of course make it more beautiful. I also went sparse on the olive oil so the drops aren’t as aesthetically pleasing as a heavier dose might be. If you click over for the recipe you’ll see how amazing it is at food 52, where their professional photographer and food stylist experience obviously makes it look better. I’m just sharing my bowl to show you – hey – you can make yours look similar, and in less than a minute!

All you need is cauliflower, an onion, water, olive oil, and salt. Pepper is optional. “Tools” required are a “heavy bottomed pot” – or just any pot, a knife, cutting board, and… any of these things – a blender, immersion blender, food processor, food mill, ricer, or … even a potato masher really.

The recipe says salt to taste – I actually doubled the recipe and used only a teaspoon for the whole thing, and it was enough. (We don’t go sodium heavy though so ymmv.)

I used an immersion blender for the first time – and I just stuck it in the pot. For a single go, I think it’d be fine. Next time if I double up again, I might as it says blend in batches. The cooking temps I was more lax about, but for the ingredients, I was spot on.

And as the comments say – you might be tempted to add “more” but really, don’t. At least not the first time. This soup needs to be appreciated for how it is. Which is lovely, wonderful, and pretty much genius in its taste and simplicity.

I’m definitely going to be making it again. I can see wanting some texture though – so maybe some toppings. Ones that will only add to the soup, but won’t “take away” from it.

This might even work as a bed for other items – it’s almost thick enough to be a puree if you don’t thin it out as much.

The recipe itself is here. And they mention it on the food 52 blog here – with more pictures etc.

Enjoy! As they said – this really is great for anyone  – even people who don’t like cauliflower. Especially them! In fact the chef who came up with the recipe doesn’t particularly like cauliflower! What a way to get a delicious, rich soup in an extremely healthy way.

Super win. And you know what? It’s onl 72 calories per serving. That’s right. Seventy. Two. For something that you think has a whole bucketful of cream and milk. (Which it doesn’t. It only tastes like it does, in the best way – not the too heavy way.) <3

[I’m not posting the actual recipe here because it seems … I dunno – silly when food 52 has it already, and better? But what would you guys prefer? Would you like me to include it in the actual post? Whatever your preference is! … Or does nobody care about the recipes?]